The Most and Least Corrupt Nations, 2009

According to the annual survey by the Berlin-based organization
Transparency International, New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, and Switzerland are perceived
to be the world's least corrupt countries, and Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan, and Iraq are perceived to be the most corrupt. The index defines corruption
as the abuse of public office for private gain and measures the degree to
which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials
and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys. Only 180 of the world's 193 countries
are included in the survey, due to an absence of reliable data from the
remaining countries. The scores range from ten (squeaky clean) to zero
(highly corrupt). A score of 5.0 is the number Transparency International
considers the borderline figure distinguishing countries that do and do
not have a serious corruption problem.